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Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Why Gun Owners Worry About Gun Control Rumors

The Brady Bunch and their anti-freedom crowd allies have hit the jackpot and are at it again. They've got James E. Holmes shooting up a theater followed by Wade Michael Page throwing lead in a Sikh Temple. In the wake of this I've been getting one call to action after another from every gun rights group in the U.S., each and every one of whom has a different facet of the same agenda - collect money to fight the anti-gun zealots in Washington D.C. because (insert anti-freedom zealot of choice) is trying to (insert legalistic legislative rumor here).

The trouble is that all of these rumors sound like credible threats, and they shouldn't. Here's why.

If you point your browser at the Gun Owners of America (GOA) home page and do a little exploring, you'll likely discover that this organization has a section rating our elected officials in the U.S. House and Senate on their individual support of the Second Amendment. Their rating system is stringent, so if your elected official has a good rating from the GOA, they've earned it. Here's the GOA rating system:

Nice, huh? Given the GOA's track record of zero-tolerance for Second Amendment violations, I tend to endorse their rating system. I note that the enemy camp refuses to publish their own rating system, as I'd like to see if it corresponds to the GOA ratings.

The problem with the GOA's site is that the results aren't summarized anywhere. So, with a little judicious cutting, pasting and editing for format I managed to get all the elected officials and their respective ratings into a spreadsheet, and what I discovered is that we're outnumbered in the Senate and it's too damn close in the House. Here are the numbers:

United States Senate
Pro-gun: 37
Swing votes: 7
Anti-gun: 56

United States House of Representatives
Pro-gun: 221
Swing votes: 36
Anti-gun: 178

Now, I've written about this before, but to reiterate: My considered opinion is that the anti-freedom crowd knows exactly what the Second Amendment means. They don't care. They are perfectly comfortable violating the United States Constitution and ignoring or removing any civil rights that get in the way of their personal agenda. These are the people who have been voted into office, and in my own opinion any elected official in the Senate or House that violates the civil rights of we the people the way the way the anti-freedom crowd has should be impeached for treason and imprisoned for the rest of their natural life. But that's just me and some folks who know me say I'm getting soft in my old age.

My point is that the anti-freedom scum have control of the U.S. Senate and they are within striking distance of the U.S. House. That's dangerous. Then there's the Ayatollah Obama, who isn't so much anti-gun as he is pro-monarchy. The man has enough hubris for three rap stars and acts like it every time Himself takes a breath.

The way to counteract this situation is contrary to the personal beliefs of the majority of gun owners.

Most - actually, all - gun owners that I have ever met tend to be responsible, self-sufficient individuals. They make up their own mind about things. They take responsibility for their own actions. If they make a mistake that damages something, they'll likely shake their head at their own stupidity and fix it. Ask what they think about a thing and you may get an answer you don't like or agree with, but it's what the person really thinks. They're tolerant, being a live and let live sort. I note from personal experience that the Pink Pistols were every bit as welcome at the range as anyone else. But, and this is the difficulty, gun owners tend not to join organizations. They don't have a real interest in organization, unlike the enemy who can gather a few thousand sheeple who will do as they are told and march to the beat of an organizational drummer.

When the gun owners of the State of Ohio were trying to reclaim their CCW rights, around 200 armed demonstrators gathered in Columbus, Ohio for a protest march (thanks to Ohioans for Concealed Carry) and the results were noticeable. I'd like to see a similar demonstration in Washington D.C., but it isn't likely to happen, mainly because it's hard to get independent people to organize and march along in step for a day or two.

So I'm fairly pessimistic about the future. Unless pro-freedom representatives are elected, more gun control laws will be enacted. Eventually the Federal government will get enough votes to enact a law permitting confiscation of all firearms from a given household on suspicion of wrong doing, and that will be that. Don't expect the commercial news media to cover these seizures - they'll think it's a great idea.

When that happens - look at the numbers above and then try to convince me it isn't possible - will someone in your neighborhood starts a group of Minutemen, and who will join?